2018 State of the Union Address

This year's State of the Union Address is likely to be very revealing about trump. If his mental abilities are failing we could see a much shorter scripted speech (under 30 minutes). And depending on his emotional state he may go off on strange tangents.

Given trump's unpredictability and increasing mental issues, here are some possible firsts:

Not a live speech. trump pre-records the speech on video. After the video is presented, he walks on stage waiving and then makes impromptu comments.

The entire State of Union address is cancelled. trump tweets: "State of Union address is no longer necessary because I tweet to the american people every day. The SOTU address is just a waste of american people's time."

What to watch for is how well is he able to stay focused and composed for a full 60-90 minutes, or does he start to fade quickly unable to handle the moment.

What I think is obvious is that if his inner circle already knows he can't handle it, they won't let him do it, and we shall see a limited\abbreviated version of the 2018 State of the Union address as I suggested above.

Schmidt Wrote: He will botch a few lines, but overall he'll take many bows after many applause lines scripted for the Fox News audience. Everyone else can go to hell...

I pointed this out because it is one of the few times a year every president is expected to appear in public and give a rather long speech (about 60 minutes). The rest of the year it easy for the WH to control how much, and how long, he appears in public. If trump is having any mental difficulties it will be exposed during the State Of the Union where he is on his own for 60 minutes. For the remainder of year his exposure can easily be limited to photo ops, twitter, recorded speeches, and highly controlled Fox Interviews where questions are vetted\rehearsed in advance, and a lot of bad stuff remains on the cutting room floor.

It will be interesting to see if he does any more rallies in 2018 and beyond. He loves doing them, so if no more are scheduled, it strongly suggests he can't handle being in public without something bad for his image happening.

Schmidt Wrote: He will botch a few lines, but overall he'll take many bows after many applause lines scripted for the Fox News audience. Everyone else can go to hell...

I pointed this out because it is one of the few times a year every president is expected to appear in public and give a rather long speech (about 60 minutes). The rest of the year it easy for the WH to control how much, and how long, he appears in public. If trump is having any mental difficulties it will be exposed during the State Of the Union where he is on his own for 60 minutes. For the remainder of year his exposure can easily be limited to photo ops, twitter, recorded speeches, and highly controlled Fox Interviews where questions are vetted\rehearsed in advance, and a lot of bad stuff remains on the cutting room floor.

It will be interesting to see if he does any more rallies in 2018 and beyond. He loves doing them, so if no more are scheduled, it strongly suggests he can't handle being in public without something bad for his image happening.

Don't worry. We've got now a "stable genius" at the helm, who loves himself deeply. Nothing what a few Prozac pills can't fix.

I hope he falters badly and it causes embarrassment that isn't easily cleaned up. Not that we want to watch a human physically suffer but then again, he's not human. A spectical -frailty - vulnerability - shamed humility.

I will have a second scoop as well.

January 30, 2018.

Pop some popcorn and invite some friends over. Drinking game ? Every time he slurs or mumbles: 1 shot. Physical blunder: 1 shot. Actual stroke: 2 shots. Direct insult towards any group who constitutes 5% of our population: 1 shot.

Schmidt Wrote: He will botch a few lines, but overall he'll take many bows after many applause lines scripted for the Fox News audience. Everyone else can go to hell...

His speechwriters care about one demographic - Fox "News" viewers. Fox will proclaim it the best speech ever given by an American President. Their viewers will agree. And the rest of the country, as you said, can go to hell.

jaredsxtn Wrote:His speechwriters care about one demographic - Fox "News" viewers. Fox will proclaim it the best speech ever given by an American President. Their viewers will agree. And the rest of the country, as you said, can go to hell.

I agree that they likely have made the decision to target strictly the trump hardcore base, and intentionally excluded everyone else... But history has proven that such an approach fails, and fails quickly. It would be just as bad if the democrats adopted that same strategy by targeting "bernie or Bust" voters to exclusion of more moderate democratic voters.

When they fail, I am for whatever strategy they want to use that will cause them to collapse fast and collapse very very hard, so hard that they knock themselves into irrelevance. Let them go cry and whine in Hooterville where the population is 112.

Some members of Congress (John Lewis, Maxine Waters, and perhaps a few more) plan to boycott Trump's State of the Union speech citing his lies and positions on racial issues. Many women are planning to wear black attire. Democrats have invited several victims of sexual harassment to attend.

I'm sure Trump will do likewise and perhaps invite "victims" of immigrant crimes and highlight them in his speech. Add to that a few middle class taxpayers who will benefit from the Trump tax cuts.

In the end I'm not sure that any of these theatrics serve a useful purpose except to give comfort to their respective tribes...and fodder for Trump tweets.

Some members of Congress (John Lewis, Maxine Waters, and perhaps a few more) plan to boycott Trump's State of the Union speech citing his lies and positions on racial issues. Many women are planning to wear black attire. Democrats have invited several victims of sexual harassment to attend.

I'm sure Trump will do likewise and perhaps invite "victims" of immigrant crimes and highlight them in his speech. Add to that a few middle class taxpayers who will benefit from the Trump tax cuts.

In the end I'm not sure that any of these theatrics serve a useful purpose except to give comfort to their respective tribes...and fodder for Trump tweets.

You can't beat Trump's theatrics, or it is Saturday Night Live; sorry right now this whole government and country is an huge joke. Even the "warning" system in Hawaii is a joke. Yes the whole world find this country a total joke; suggest to start writing another "book" about the "total joke" as follow up on the first book, to make another best seller worldwide.

Dutch is right. We are a large joke. How far we have regressed. Boycotting the State of the union speech seems like a bad idea. Not sure what is expected to be accomplished by "Not being there". The 5 second footnote doesn't get you anything.

The conman is doing very well in his mind and to his base. We must not forget his base is a small percentage (40% ? ) who vote devoutly. Media should be the watchdogs to push accountability but the almighty dollar has changed their jobs. Sad. We as citizens should strongly make him responsible for his ass hat comments.

Thanks Tony, I'm just shaking my old Dutch head. When I came here in "86" on invitation, I thought that this country was not all that bad; at least the Americans I worked with had the right minds at that time; however if I look at it now, then I ask myself "what happened since then". Personally, I blame it on the "education" in this country; it stood still and attracted the wrong teachers as well uneducated teachers and got more influence of "churches" into politics and teaching. Also the "corruption" on all levels does not help to get a sound country.

As far as the 2018 state of the union, my perspective has not changed since starting this thread, it will be about seeing if he can can get through 60 minutes of a scripted speech.

It would not be a surprise if the scripted speech is much shorter (ie under 30 minutes) and\or padded with a slick\polished "State of the Nation video" that portrays trump taking a shit-hole on the verge of total collapse and turns the US into a super power that finally, after centuries of poverty and elite corruption, has the respect of the rest of world for the first time in history of the universe, so great that people can't believe it.

There is also a good chance that trump could have a very bad night and will go off script making obvious false statements\claims, naming calling, etc.... After it is over, it becomes even more clear his mental abilities crumbling.

wwjd Wrote: Dutch, how did you feel things were going while Obama was president? and\or on a scale of 1-10, how would you rate his presidency?

I would give him an "8"; however he could have gotten an "10" if he was not continuously obstructed by the GOP; I think he mishandled the Supreme Court nomination by being too "soft", partly due to "again" not having the proper "laws" in this country which should have been clear and prevented that the GOP could manipulate that situation as they did.

For the rest Obama acted as an well educated stable person, who had an international background and education about the world around us. He also studied things or analysed things before opening his mouth. I can't say that about Trump, of which the Warton school teacher said, that he was the worst student ever, who thought he knew it all.